§ 37-1-122 — Funding opportunity announcement; requirements; assistance; announcement of awards

(a) No later than October 1, 2022, the department shall issue a funding opportunity announcement inviting any community service board or private provider, in partnership with a court or courts holding jurisdiction over probate matters in the corresponding service area, to submit a written application for funding pursuant to the assisted outpatient treatment grant program. (b) The department shall develop and disclose in the funding opportunity announcement: (1) A numerical scoring rubric to evaluate applications, which shall include a minimum score an application must receive to be potentially eligible for funding; (2) A formula for determining the amount of funding for which a grantee shall be eligible, based on the size of the population to be served, consideration of existing resources, or both; (3) A minimum percentage of a grant award that must be directed, and a maximum percentage of a grant award that may be directed, for purposes of enhancing the community based mental health services and supports provided to recipients of assisted outpatient treatment; and (4) A minimum percentage of the total program budget that must be independently sourced by the applicant. (c) The funding opportunity announcement shall require each application to include, in addition to any other information the department may choose to require: (1) A detailed three-year program budget, including identification of the source or sources of the applicant's independent budget contribution; (2) A plan to identify and serve a population composed of persons meeting the following criteria, including the number of patients anticipated to participate in the program over the course of each year of grant support: (A) The person is 18 years of age or older; (B) The person is suffering from a mental health or substance use disorder which has been clinically documented by a health care provider licensed to practice in Georgia; (C) There has been a clinical determination by a physician or psychologist that the person is unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision; (D) The person has a history of lack of compliance with treatment for his or her mental health or substance use disorder, in that at least one of the following is true: (i) The person's mental health or substance use disorder has, at least twice within the previous 36 months, been a substantial factor in necessitating hospitalization or the receipt of services in a forensic or other mental health unit of a correctional facility, not including any period during which such person was hospitalized or incarcerated immediately preceding the filing of the petition; or (ii) The person's mental health or substance use disorder has resulted in one or more acts of serious and violent behavior toward himself or herself or others or threatens or attempts to cause serious physical injury to himself or herself or others within the preceding 48 months, not including any period in which such person was hospitalized or incarcerated immediately preceding the filing of the petition; (E) The person has been offered an opportunity to participate in a treatment plan by the department, a state mental health facility, a community service board, or a private provider under contract with the department and such person continues to fail to engage in treatment; (F) The person's condition is substantially deteriorating; (G) Participation in the assisted outpatient treatment program would be the least restrictive placement necessary to ensure such person's recovery and stability; (H) In view of the person's treatment history and current behavior, such person is in need of assisted outpatient treatment in order to prevent a relapse or deterioration that would likely result in grave disability or serious harm to himself or herself or others; and (I) It is likely that the person may benefit from assisted outpatient treatment. (3) For each element of assisted outpatient treatment, a statement of how the applicant proposes to incorporate such element into its own practice of assisted outpatient treatment; (4) A commitment by the applicant that it shall honor the provisions of any legally enforceable psychiatric advance directive of any person receiving involuntary outpatient treatment; (5) A description of the evidence based treatment services and case management model or models that the applicant proposes to utilize; (6) A description of any dedicated staff positions the applicant proposes to establish; (7) A letter of support from the sheriff of any county where the applicant proposes to provide assisted outpatient treatment; (8) A flowchart representing the proposed assisted outpatient treatment process, from initial case referral to transition to voluntary care; and (9) A description of the applicant's plans to establish a stakeholder workgroup, consisting of representatives of each of the agencies, entities, and communities deemed essential to the functioning of the assisted outpatient treatment program, for purposes of internal oversight and program improvement. (d) The department shall not provide direct assistance or direct guidance to any potential applicant in developing the content of an application. Any questions directed to the department from potential applicants concerning the grant application process or interpretation of the funding opportunity announcement may only be entertained at a live webinar announced in advance in the funding opportunity announcement and open to all potential applicants, or may be submitted in writing and answered on a webpage disclosed in the funding opportunity announcement and freely accessible to any potential applicant. (e) No later than December 31, 2022, the department shall publicly announce awards for funding support, subject to annual review, to the five applicants whose applications received the highest scores under the scoring rubric, provided that: (1) The department shall seek to ensure, to the extent practical and consistent with other objectives, that at least three of the regions designated pursuant to Code Section 37-2-3 are represented among the five grantees. In pursuit of this goal, the department may in its discretion award a grant to a lower-scoring applicant over a higher-scoring applicant or may resolve a tie score in favor of an applicant that would increase regional diversity among the grantees; and (2) In no case shall a grant be awarded to an applicant whose application has failed to attain the minimum required score as stated in the funding opportunity announcement. This requirement shall take precedence in the event that it comes into conflict with the requirement that a total of five grants be awarded.

Legislative History

Added by 2022 Ga. Laws 587,§ 3-1, eff. 7/1/2022.